My Tenant Doesn’t Want Me To Evict Him Because…

Here’s a new one. My tenant doesn’t want me to evict him because he’s, I quote, “being honest about not being able to pay rent”

Baffled? Yeah, me too. But the reality is, this massive, delusional, inbred fanny believes he should be entitled to exemption on the grounds of being honest about his financial difficulties. In return for his good-deed, he wants more time to make amends. He also wants me to get on my knees and lick the lint out of his belly-button as a special bonus prize.

Essentially, the fact he said, “Yeah, I can’t pay rent, I’m having financial difficulties” should qualify him for some extra breathing space. Fortunately, I’m not the host of a chat show and I’m not the condescending prick Jeremy Kyle, so admitting the problem isn’t the first step to recovery around these parts.

I’m genuinely perplexed by my tenant’s perception of reality. Why would being honest about financial difficulties make any difference to the bottom-line, surely that’s only going to add fuel to my concern? Also, it’s not like he had any other choice but to be honest. The money was not in my account 10 days after it was due, how many other reasons besides from not having the money could there be? Fool.

In a couple of days time my tenant will be 2 months in arrears, so I sent him a text-message informing him that I’m going to serve him with a Section 8 notice, on the grounds of rent arrears. I didn’t want him to be totally surprised or confused by the notice, so I gave him a little head’s up. I wasn’t being aggressive or unreasonable in my text-message, I wasn’t even trying to threaten him; I was genuinely being informative, and even threw in a few sympathetic words. Although, in that situation, I’m sure he’s stressed and under pressure, so my sympathy was most likely making him gag.

Unfortunately, he’s put me in a position where I have to evict him because I can’t run the risk of giving him more time. I’ve been patient enough, and I was prepared to wait a little longer, but he’s sucked my patience dry by telling me he would clear his arrears on two separate occasions, but failed to deliver… both times! That’s a sure-fire way to exhaust my barrel of patience. That’s seriously one of my biggest pet-peeves. I don’t mind when tenant’s need a little extra time to pay rent, but I do mind when they mess me about by lacking courtesy e.g. failing to inform me they won’t be paying their arrears on the day they told me they would. Shizzle like that flips my noodle. Don’t give me false hope, be realistic. Keep it real, Snoop Dog style.

My text-message seemed to have aggravated him (not surprisingly, but unnecessarily) because his response was snotty, and consisted of the following key points:

So far as a landlord, all I care about is my money
Wrong.

So far, since he’s been in arrears, all I’ve cared about is his lack of money to pay rent.

Wait, am I being a freaking abnormal landlord here? What does he want me to care about when he’s in arrears? Unbelievable!

His honesty about not being able to pay rent should count for something, and I should be patient
I appreciate honesty in all forms, and I’ve been patient. But that doesn’t change the fact he’s in arrears….and betrayed my trust by feeding me bullshit.

The fact is, the more he gets himself into arrears, the tougher it will be for him to dig his way out. So i’m not just doing this for my sake, it’s also for his (but mainly for mine). If I give him breathing space, he’s unlikely to escape from a downward spiral. Tough love.

I am putting pressure on him by threatening him with a Section 8
Good. I would be the dumbest landlord on the planet if I didn’t apply pressure on a tenant that’s fallen in arrears. What does he expect me to do? Give him a pedicure and feed him grapes, so the whole ordeal is more bearable?

He cannot tell me when he will be able to pay, but at least he has been honest with me
*slaps forehead*

I’m acting like a very unprofessional business man
Yeah, sure, a landlord evicting a tenant because they’ve failed to pay their arrears when they said they would, and consequently approaching 2 months in arrears, is unprofessional.

What I don’t understand is why some tenants get angry at the landlord when they’re in arrears and face eviction. What exactly is the landlord doing wrong? It’s fucking crazy.

Anyways, I’m just mumbling. Mumble, mumble, mumble!

If anyone is having problems with rent arrears and is lost in a cloud of unsexy confusion, I would advise seeking help from a professional eviction service.

Disclaimer: I'm just a simple landlord blogger, I am not qualified to give legal or financial advice. Any advice I give is my opinion based on my experience, and is never legal or professional advice. You should always get professional advice on any legal and financial matters!

10 Comments- Join The Conversation...

The best thing the government could do for me and all landlords is by changing the law to allow the use of a genital shocking TASER before/during and after the issuing of a section 8 for rent arrears.

What the tenants fails to see or refuses to understand is you are being professional by issuing such a notice - you are acting like any other business when faced with arrears and implementing your credit control procedures.

Tenants can be such knobs!

Good luck with recovering your arrears pal!

1

emma22nd May, 2012 @ 08:34

I had exactly the same with an old tenant and I have heard so many other landlords storys. It infuriates me the bullshit they come out with. I'm all up for honesty and it'll buy them a week but after that I class it as taking the piss. They expect us to fund the roof over their heads.
What annoys me the most that if I pay my mortgage just one day late - I'm blacklisted !!!!!! Rental payments should be treated the same
Hope you get your money !!

2

pab22nd May, 2012 @ 18:00

"failing to inform me they won’t be paying their arrears on the day they told me they would"

I know that feel. It boils my blood too.

I think it was on MoneySavingExpert I recently read that a persons credit check could now also include their rent payments/arrears. Anyone here care to comment on this?

3

The Landlord23rd May, 2012 @ 07:28

Good to know other landlords share my sentiments!

@pab
Never heard of rent arrears/payments affecting credit rating. But it sounds like a good idea to me :)

@emma
My tenant was/is literally acting like there's no consequence of being in arrears, and all that's required to resolve the situation is my patience! He was acting oblivious to the fact I have a mortgage to pay, and I can't delay those payments! He's seriously living in a dream world!

Thanks for the comments and support, folks! Appreciated.

4

YesAdam28th May, 2012 @ 13:15

I think your Tenant has been watching TV were they always say "talk to your bank if you are in arrears" and they will come up with a payment plan.

Presumably you should have done the same, not that you have to or in your right to serve notice.

5

Ines6th August, 2012 @ 13:32

Will the Malcolm court of appeal deocsiin be revived? No. The equality bill addresses the Lords deocsiin in Malcolm only to the extent that that deocsiin effectively demolished disability related discrimination', leaving only direct discrimination'. It introduces discrimination arising from disability' instead, alongside direct and indirect discrimination. The general NL view is that there is nothing in there that would replicate the Malcolm situation. The key clause used to read and I think still does: (1) A person (A) discriminates against a disabled person (B) if(a) A treats B in a particular way,(b) because of B’s disability, the treatment amounts to a detriment, and(c) A cannot show that the treatment is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. The old DDA s.24(1) read (in part)(a) for a reason which relates to the disabled person’s disability, he treats him less favourably than he treats or would treat others to whom that reason does not or would not apply; There is a significant difference between because of B's disability the treatment amounts to a detriment' and for a reason which relates to B's disability etc'.A possession for rent arrears would be very hard to argue as a detriment to B, because of B's disability'. It would be a detriment to anyone. And in any event, proportionate means would probably apply.NL recently posted..

6

Jan11th December, 2012 @ 20:55

@pab

If you applied for a CCJ against your tenant then this would show on their credit file and affect their ability to gain credit in the future, I know getting a CCJ costs money, but it would be a small consolation if you knew their messing you about will stay with them for a long time.

7

Jenny14th March, 2016 @ 11:37

Get out of residential lettings. It's going to get worse. S21s are not what they used to be.

8

Landlady M17th April, 2016 @ 21:02

My tenant is getting evicted by bailiff in 8 days time. After 6 months of ignoring my calls, texts, e-mails and letters, during which time he has made sporadic and occasional payments (but still owes me over £2,000 in arrears etc), I suddenly received this message from him this evening: "i got a letter stating that i owe you arrears of £2,500 and that you are evicting me next week
I'm at a total loss I have been in communication with you at all times and have been chipping away at the arrears but its being made as if I have not been doing that"
I'm not even going to dignify that with a response. Some people are seriously deluded. He has no idea the impact his actions have had on my life. This has been a really awful 18 months for me and he's made it so much worse than it needed to be. Throughout the tenancy I have been nothing but patient and understanding but I'd be a moron if I didn't evict a non-paying, non-communicating tenant, especially when I already have financial problems. The only time this jerk communicated with me in the last 6 months was to tell me that the hot water wasn't working and get me to send out an electrician!

9

mick20th June, 2017 @ 06:03

This is exactly why we need more social housing. How about get a job and stop being parasites ...then you won't be chasing people up for money. x

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